Best 8 Character Obfuscation (Golf-ish)

[mr.nick]

Okay, I have an interesting task here if you are interested :) What is the most clever obfuscation/golf can you write with the following simple rules

• Maximum of eight (8) spaces
• You can only use the following characters
  
  . ' ! : - (which count for 1/2 space)
  
  & ? $ = # ' + / * (which count for 1 space)
  
  " (2 spaces)
  
  A-Z0-9 (1 space)

Now, if this sounds suspiciously like the restrictions placed on you by the Department of Motor Vehicles for a custom plate, well, yes, (ahem) you would be correct :)

I've been trying to think of something clever I can fit into 8 spaces (which, if 1/2 space chars are abused well enough, I expect can be as long as 12 characters). Problem is, the muse of cleverness isn't with me; the best I can do so far is a simple regex like s!.+!JAPH!. So I appeal (more out of interest of SEEING as opposed to actually USING it) to my fellow monks for some input.

Thank you for your time! :)

[MeowChow]

A Perl-to-Java converter:

perl -pe "s-\b \b-.-g" FILENAME

update: And here's a cute 'lil bug i just discovered:

perl -pe "s--s:()::g-e" FILENAME

   MeowChow                                   
               s aamecha.s a..a\u$&owag.print

[petral]

Why the '()'s? Without them, it seems to work. (But then there's no bug. I guess that's your point.)

  p

[Zaxo]

The possibilities get richer if you consider mere expressions and puns on them.

$$==0 for 'swapper' (a little old-fashoned, that)

$?!=0 for 'baby on board'

Regex matches can make an assertion...

/VIP/

...or even tell a sad story.

/DWI/

$&=1/4

/APB/

$!!=0

/DOA/

After Compline,
Zaxo

[MeowChow]

Having the word "DWI" on your license plate is a bit like walking around a hunting grounds with a pair of antlers strapped to your head :-)

   MeowChow                                   
               s aamecha.s a..a\u$&owag.print

[Anonymous Monk]

Can you explain for non-americans what it is with DWI. I think it closes a large namespace.

[srawls]

Here's one that fits exactly 8 chars (11 real chars):

++$...$..$.

It evaluates to 1 .. 11. (To see why, go to this node.)

The 15 year old, freshman programmer,
Stephen Rawls

[mr.nick]

That's great! Can you imagine a police officer trying to read your tags across a radio?? :)

[srawls]

Yeah, and can you imagine an officer asking a witness, "did you get the tag? plus dollar dot dot what now?"

Seriously though, I can just see people asking you about your plate everywhere you go; all the more reason to get it : )

The 15 year old, freshman programmer,
Stephen Rawls

[John M. Dlugosz]

sub foo

++$$

my $car

[tilly]

I can't even manage a good joke in 8 characters. The best I could manage is that attempts to speak Python will not be understood:

s:yt:&s:e

(I know, I couldn't even manage a good job at *that* joke.)

[petral]

The absence of the lower-case makes this particularly difficult. $ARGV? $#INC? *SIG?!?

  p

[the_slycer]

Only a perlmonk would get it:

4=31832

[da]

$0='CAR'

but then people will confuse you for a ksh or sh programmer.

___
-DA

[suaveant]

#!perl -wT

that'd be a good license plate :)

update I assume you need real letters, too but ...---... would be a funny plate...

                - Ant
                - Some of my best work - Fish Dinner

[ZZamboni]

Please let us know what you end up with! I would be particularly curious to see if the DMV will accept a symbols-only plate (like the ++$...$..$. suggestion). I have a feeling they would reject it.

When I got my new car in January, I wanted to get a "PERLMNK" plate (only 7 characters plus a space in Indiana), but when I went to get the plates, I found out that they only issue vanity plates once a year: I would have to place the order and wait until next year, and I'm moving out of the state this year. Agh.

--ZZamboni